MONTPELIER – Lawmakers gathered last Wednesday for an annual legislative briefing, a refresher on the state’s revenues and budget with a focus on two of the most pressing topics of the day: education finance and housing. “What I would ask you is this: What is your prize for having won?”[Read More…]
Ethan Weinstein, VTDigger
Beck Proposes Education Foundation Formula Funding
NORTHEAST KINGDOM – Vermonters cited affordability as a top priority in the 2024 election, and last week, they voted to send more Republicans to Montpelier than in recent decades. Driving affordability concerns is the cost of education, which fueled this year’s average education property tax increase of 13.8%. The election results, which saw a[Read More…]
Will Republican Control of Narrative on Property Taxes Flip Legislative Seats
VERMONT – On the campaign trail, state legislative candidates say affordability dominates conversations with constituents. Property taxes, and with them, the cost of education, are fueling some of the most fiery rhetoric. This year, education property taxes rose an average of 13.8% statewide, driven by school spending approved by district[Read More…]
Greensboro Man Acquitted of Murder
NEWPORT – An Orleans County man successfully argued self-defense this week, three years after he shot and killed a man outside his Greensboro home. Darryl Johnson faced second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting death of Robert Chaplin. A jury found him not guilty on both charges on Thursday.[Read More…]
Marshfield Erupts After Event Advertised for MAP
MARSHFIELD – A since-deleted website advertising a three-night event for “minor-attracted persons” has ignited fury and fear in Marshfield and Plainfield, though local leaders say there’s no evidence such a gathering is going to take place in those communities. The outrage boiled over at Tuesday night’s Marshfield Select Board meeting,[Read More…]
Teacher Charged with Disorderly Conduct
PLAINFIELD – A Twinfield teacher was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly drawing on a student’s throat. Kathleen Wheelock allegedly did so after the student used a permanent marker on a whiteboard, according to Vermont State Police. The incident occurred Sept. 5, according to a state police press release, although[Read More…]
In Purple Northeast Kingdom Senate districts, Candidates Focus on Affordability
Longtime incumbent Sens. Bobby Starr, D-Orleans, and Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, have left Senate vacancies in two swing districts. In the Northeast Kingdom, a single issue is defining hotly contested Senate races in two purple districts: affordability. Orleans County and Caledonia County will have new senators next year following the decisions[Read More…]
Proposals to Close Calais, Worcester Schools Discussed at Forum
WORCESTER — Pizza, nostalgia, tears: Residents packed the gymnasium of this small town’s small school, extolling the virtues of Doty Memorial in the face of its possible closure. About 100 people attended back-to-back community forums Wednesday evening, the first organized by concerned residents and the second by the Washington Central[Read More…]
Former Orleans County Lawmaker Rodgers Runs for Lieutenant Governor
GLOVER – John Rodgers, a former Vermont House and Senate Democrat from Glover, is running for lieutenant governor as a Republican. “I don’t feel like I left the party. I feel like the party left me,” Rodgers said in an interview Friday, describing himself as a moderate. “I feel closer[Read More…]
Community Schools may be Future of Education but Funding Drying up
NEWPORT – Educators say schools are serving more needs than ever before. The community schools philosophy leans into this broad understanding of the role of public schools. Tired kids don’t do their best learning. So when Samantha Stevens, community schools coordinator at the North Country Supervisory Union, finds out that[Read More…]
Goddard College Will Move Entirely Online
PLAINFIELD – Goddard College will move to online-only education for at least a year, school leaders announced in a community letter on Friday. The Plainfield school has seen declining interest in in-person education, according to its leaders. The change, which will affect the Plainfield school’s fall 2024 and spring 2025[Read More…]
Education Spending Ticks Down
Montpelier – The latest data from the Vermont Agency of Education shows a small decrease in projected education spending and affirms previously anecdotal evidence on the major factors causing a projected increase in education property taxes. Health care costs, construction, special education, disappearing federal money and increased salaries are all[Read More…]
